Growth in finance sector salaries slows down

The rate of average earnings growth for financial staff has remained constant at 5.7% in the 12 months to September 2004.

Findings from the latest Remuneration Economics survey of 6,518 individuals shows that basic salary growth has been much slower than the year before. It has fallen from 4.9% in 2003 to 4.4% in 2004.

Survey participants expect growth to slow even further over the coming year, forecasting increases of 3.3% at their next pay review.The proportion of financial staff receiving bonuses also remained steady in comparison with the previous year, at around 68%. However, the value of the average bonus has fallen slightly, from 4,249 in 2003, to 4,130 in 2004.

The survey also shows the gender pay gap in the financial sector is relatively small. Female financial directors earn 98.8% of the male wage, while female function head staff earn 91.8% of the male equivalent.

It also reveals an increase in the number of companies offering flexible benefit schemes from 15.1% in the 2003 survey, to 23.8% in 2004.